Blair poised for IRA compromise

Tony Blair was today in sight of a deal to allow 40 "hardcore" IRA fugitives to return to Britain and escape going to jail under a controversial "amnesty" scheme.

Another 60 republicans, also on the run, would have their cases quietly dropped on the grounds that the alleged offences happened so long ago there is no real prospect of them even reaching court.

The possible breakthrough came as it emerged the deal could win the backing of David Trimble and his mainstream Ulster Unionist party.

Details were revealed as Mr Blair's most senior aides accepted that the original proposals - to offer a blanket amnesty to all 100 fugitives - would not get through Parliament.

Under the compromise deal, 40 hardcore IRA members would return and give themselves up to police on the understanding they would be immediately released on bail.

They would have to face prosecution and attend court - but if found guilty they would then be let out on licence, bringing them into line with other terrorist prisoners who have already been freed under the early-release scheme.

Sources revealed today that the remaining 60 have already been effectively removed from the threat of prosecution because their cases are so old that vital evidence, including that of witnesses, would no longer stand up in court. Their cases are likely to be reviewed by prosecuting authorities before being dropped.

Those who currently cannot return to Britain include Rita O'Hare, Sinn Fein's representative in Washington; Dermot Finucane, 39, who masterminded the 1983 breakout from the Maze, fled to the US and is believed to be living in Dublin; Charles Caufield, 47, named in the Commons as the man behind the 1987 Enniskillen bomb which killed 11 people; and Evelyn Glenholmes, 43, wanted for five bombings and three murders, including the Harrods bombing.

Senior sources stressed today that the latest scheme is only one of a "range of options" being studied by the Prime Minister and that a final decision was still some way off.

Securing at least the tacit support of Mr Trimble would be crucial to getting such a deal through, although it would still be opposed by Ian Paisley's hardline Democratic Unionists and some Tories.

The plans are also being discussed with Irish premier Bertie Ahern and his senior ministers, although there are no plans for him and Mr Blair to meet face to face in the near future.

News of the deal came as senior British sources accepted officially for the first time that the endofmonth deadline to settle the fugitive issue, originally set out in talks at Weston Park last summer, would not be met. No fresh deadline was being set. The issue is understood to have been discussed at Downing Street yesterday between Mr Blair and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.

The IRA is thought to be on the verge of a second act of decommissioning - possibly the sealing of another arms bunker - within the next week. Such a move would be highly symbolic around Easter, the most important date in the republican calendar. Northern Ireland's chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, said a new move on arms was a "real possibility."